The Rev. Jenner J. Hull took a break from the "Fat Back Transcription" and had an exceptionally good Saturday. He watched some Winter X-Games, found a long-ass infomercial for a mid-50's to mid-60's rock/soul/doo-wop collection (and knew all but three songs), had some pizza, drank some Yuengling, and did some laundry. Though this afternoon/evening should have been a weekly Jam Session (our Sabbath is Saturday Night), the Church can and will delay or reschedule Jam Sessions due to sports events or other mitigating circumstances.
In this case, the aforementioned X-Games are on all weekend, the Cavs are playing the Suns at noon-ish on the morrow, and we want to be fresh and sober for all the action (especially the ball-playing). Though Your Humble Reverend is a proud disciple of King James, he also considers Steve Nash and the blazingly-fast Phoenix team to be the most finely-tuned basketball machine since an early-80's Celtic squad and, thus, a "Sure Thing." It's gonna be a good game, folks. It might even be, dare I say, funky...
The 50's/60's music commercial got me all nostalgic and such...
The Temps - "(I Know) I'm Losing You" (From "The Temptations with a Lot o' Soul")
It was a popular song back in '66 and, thankfully, still got sporadic airplay on what used to be "Oldies 93.1" out of North Carolina. Now it's a goddamn country station. If that doesn't tell you what state the world's in, I don't know what will.
Anyway, if Motown were like that whole Lovecraft/Cthulhu Mythos deal, the Temps would be the Great Old Ones. If Motown were an old western TV show, the Temps would be Marshall Dillon. If Motown were Street Fighter, the Temps would be either Ken or Ryu. Or Guile, if you "go that way" with Street Fighter.
"(I Know) I'm Losing You" is a classic example of the Temps utilizing their multi-soloist line-up in the best way possible. While other Temps (Eddie Kendrick, in particular) were great singers (check out "The Way You Do the Things You Do"), David Ruffin just had "That Voice." You hear it, you acknowledge it, and you can only say, "Damn! That cat can belt!"
As you can see, Your Humble Reverend considers David Ruffin to be the best and most underrated vocalist of all time. I may be biased, but I am 100% right in declaring "(I Know) I'm Losing You" an early funk/rock classic worthy of all possible praise...
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